Through The Glass.

Author's Note: More bumps in the road, my lovelies. Super long chapter this time.


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Months went on uneventfully. I went to school, and finally, college didn't seem so boring. I met a few nice people. The extra work was something that helped me keep occupied. I realized I wasn't as dumb as I'd thought, after all. I started doing well in class, getting good grades on papers that I'd worked hard on overnight.

Things between Matt and I started slowly returning back to normal. He never yelled or hit me again. He didn't care if I was late for dinner or decided that I was too tired from school to spend the night. We started spending a little more time apart as we took care of our own things. His work and my school had kept us pretty busy, as he was on the brink of a promotion.

And then on November 26th, my world crashed. I was two weeks late. I already knew what it had to mean, but I wanted to deny it. After my life had finally started to take off, this couldn't happen. I didn't want to tell Matt. I was afraid of his reaction. Maybe, he would get angry all over again, and things would end up turning into shambles for the second time. I couldn't bear it.

Finally, one afternoon, on my way back from my morning classes, I stopped at the Rite-Aid closest to my school and picked up a pregnancy test. 'Maybe it's something else,' I told myself. 'It could very well be nothing.'

I dropped my things off in my room, and dreadfully brought my pregnancy test with me into the bathroom. After reading the box carefully at least three times, I finally peed on the stick and then waited five long, agonizing minutes. When I stared at the results I wanted to scream, but with my family sitting downstairs watching TV, I couldn't. So I fell on the hard, porcelain tiling of the bathroom floor and cried. I cried until I couldn’t anymore. I didn't know what to do or how to tell Matt.

I put the positive pregnancy test into a small bag and shoved it under my bed. I had to tell Matt. I had to tell him soon. But I didn't know when or how. The idea of telling him made me sick.

I decided that I needed to tell him tonight. If he found out that I knew and didn't tell him that would make things worse. If I could have waited until I was giving birth to tell him I was having his baby I would, without even having to think about it twice. But I had to tell him now.

My fingers trembled as I dialed his number on my phone. I wanted to hang up, I wanted to drop the phone and run miles away, but then I heard his sweet, beautiful voice answer my call.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Matt," my voice sounded so somber, almost as though someone had died, and no matter how hard I tried to make my voice sound better, I couldn't.

"Honey, are you alright?" He asked.

My plan was to ask him if I could come over tonight and talk to him about something important. But one important thing you learn about life is that things never go according to plan. Just like how getting pregnant had never been part of my plan. I began to cry hysterically on the phone, blubbering and speaking in unintelligible words.

"Honey, sweetie calm down, calm down!" He was practically shouting. "What's going on?"

"I'm… I-I'm…" I began wailing, "I'm p-pregnant." I began to cry again.

"What?" he said very quietly, almost as though for a second his breath had been knocked out of him. All I could manage was more crying, which was answer enough. "I'm leaving work now," was all he said before hanging up.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


I sobbed on my bed for a while, trying to let it all out before I headed over to Matt's house, until the doorbell rang and I jumped out of my skin. My heart beat furiously and I prayed it wasn't Matt at my door.

We had agreed long ago that until we absolutely had to, in case we ever had plans to move in together, or marry, in the future, he would never, ever, come to my house. When I was eighteen, legal, and time had passed that gave me enough time to be seeing him steadily; we figured my parents wouldn't take it so badly.

But, I supposed this was an important reason, and I carefully tiptoed, peeking down the stairs as my mother worked the locks on the door. I went down the steps a bit more, and when the door opened and I saw Matt standing there, my heart dropped to my stomach. My hand did as well, feeling where the seeds of our love and passion, our child, was growing in that very moment.

"Hi, I'm here to see Allison," Matt said very seriously, taking a look around the house and then nodding to my mother.

"Matthew?" She stared at him. The last time she had seem him was many years ago, when he and my brother were about nineteen. He was a completely different man now.

"Yes ma'am," He answered. "Is she here?"

My mother looked extremely confused as she ushered him in and closed the door behind him. "Yes, she is. I'll go and get her-"

"I remember where her room is, I can find her myself."

I moved quickly back to my bed, sitting and gripping my pillow tightly. When I saw him in my doorway, it brought back so many memories of happier times when he would find me hiding in my room as we played hide and seek. I began to cry all over again.

He closed the door behind him so we could talk in private, and as he sat in front of me, I looked up at him with my tearstained face and bloodshot eyes. I was shaking with withdrawal, but knowing that I was pregnant, I knew it would be wrong to get a fix, not until I knew what I was planning to do.

He reached over and hugged me tightly, as I cried into his chest and writhed into his strong embrace, wailing helplessly for my life that had gone completely off track.

"Stop crying, Al, it'll be okay. I'm here," he pulled me from his embrace and brought his hand under my jaw, forcing me to look into his beautiful hazel eyes. "I love you," he said barely above a whisper, kissing me so gently and softly, like a porcelain doll that might break if he was just slightly rougher.

"What are we going to do?" I said amid sniffles.

"You and I can get through this," he said, sitting and then looking down. His voice dropped when he said, "Come home and live with me."

"Are you serious?" I looked at him nervously. It was almost like a dream come true, but it wouldn't be easy.

"Pack your shit and come home with me. Right now. I'll wait for you in the car."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


I packed a few pairs of jeans and shirts, a few hoodies and my winter jacket, some socks, a few pairs of sneakers and underclothes and decided that it would be enough for now. I could always come back for the rest of my things some other time.

I walked downstairs with my small suitcase and hand, and when I stopped at the bottom of the stairs, both my parents stared at me. My mother got up instantly, looking at the suitcase in my hand.

"Where are you going?" My mother asked calmly. When I didn't answer instantly she began to scream. "Allison!! Where are you going??"

"I'm leaving," I replied dully.

"With him?" My father said, in something that sounded a lot like a snarl.

"Yes, with him." I didn't look at either of them.

My mother shook her head in disbelief. My father ran his fingers through his hair tiredly. "Come on, kiddo," my dad started, "What's going on?"

I sighed tiredly, placing a hand on my flat belly. "I'm… pregnant," I answered, trying to be as bold and strong as I could. "And before you even bother to ask, yes, it's Matthew's."

My mother began to sob. "How did this happen? He's ten years older than you! How… oh, my God." She receded into the arms of my father, who looked at me sternly.

"We're very disappointed in you Allison, but that doesn't mean you have to leave."

"I know," I started calmly. "But I want to. Matt and I are happy together. And now we're going to have a family. Something that I don't have here."

My mother wailed even louder, "How can you say that? We are your family. We love you!"

I just shrugged. "Well, you certainly have a shitty way of showing it!" I barked at them. They stood, dumbfounded. "I'm tired of living in the shadows of Caitlin and Adam! Matthew doesn't care if I'm smart or pretty, he loves me, and we're happy together. He's waiting for me, so I'm leaving."

I walked out, slamming the door behind me so loud that the house shook as my body shook with my sobs.